Port Authority Bus Terminal (New York City, New York)

6-story bus terminal originally opened in 1950 to a design by William Brower. The parking decks (with 1250 spaces) were completed in 1963, and an annex in 1979. The Port Authority Bus Terminal is the main gateway for interstate buses into Manhattan. The very large building is located between 8th and 9th Avenues and West 40th and 42nd Street, spanning over a section of 41st Street. It is the biggest bus station in the United States and the busiest in the world by volume of traffic. The terminal has 223 gates as well as commercial and retail space.

The Port Authority Bus Terminal began operation on December 15, 1950 for passengers, originally occupying only the block between 40th and 41st Streets. The terminal was intended as a solution for an array of various terminals spread throughout Midtown Manhattan. The goal was to centralize the flow of buses and create a user-friendly building.

The building has seen expansions and revitalizations over the years, most notably the addition of the North Wing in 1979. While this expansion increased capacity by 50%, the accompanying renovation replaced the Art-Deco styling of the original terminal with a "modern" steel-and-glass look of the sort fashionable during the late 1970s and early 1980s for institutional buildings. The new facade is composed of 27 grey steel X-shaped trusses. In July 2011, the PABT became home to the world's largest mediamesh, a stainless steel fabric embedded with light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for various types of media, art, and advertising imagery. The LED imagery façade covers 6,000 square feet wrapping around the corner of 42nd Street and 8th Avenue.

There are numerous franchise stores—such as Heartland Brewery, Au Bon Pain, Jamba Juice, Starbucks, Hudson News, Duane Reade, GNC, a United States Postal Service branch station, as well as a variety of restaurants and bars throughout the terminal. Frames, a bowling alley (long known as Leisure Time Bowling) occupies a large space on the 2nd floor.

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